Top VPS Monitoring Tools for Optimal Performance | 2025 Guide

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If you don't always know the state of your network and servers, you are like a blind pilot... disaster awaits. Fortunately, there are now excellent VPS monitoring tools – commercial or open source – for networks, as mentioned before, VPS monitoring tools.

Since good and free is always better than good and expensive, we've compiled a list of open-source Windows Server monitoring tools proven to work in networks of all sizes. Featuring capabilities for discovering devices, monitoring network equipment and servers, identifying network trends, graphical presentation of monitoring results, and even backing up switch and router configurations, these monitoring software tools of Windows Server will not fail to amaze you.

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What is a server monitoring tool?

A monitoring tool ensures that your programs are running efficiently. You'll use a VPS monitoring tool to ensure your servers have sufficient resources to execute their processes. In other words, server monitoring software monitors the performance of some server hardware and software. Just like a physician who examines the vital symptoms of the patient, a monitoring tool collects and evaluates server performance data and resources. With these tools, you can quickly identify and fix your server problems, which may be hidden from the server manager for days or months.

What can a VPS monitoring tool track?

Monitoring the server's performance, how to use server resources, etc., must be done by analyzing different metrics. That’s exactly what a VPS monitoring tool does! Here are the essential things that these tools can track:

• CPU: Under normal circumstances, the percentage of CPU use should rarely reach its maximum and not be over-applied. If the CPU is widely used and often reaches its maximum, it may indicate that the server doesn’t have enough resources. 

• Used Memory: Knowing your server's disk storage space is essential. If the disk space is fully utilized, the system may become unresponsive. These conditions also affect network performance. Monitoring bandwidth and network operational capability is of great importance.
• Reporting: Using data collected from the servers, these tools produce comprehensive reports that help analyze the trends and optimize the servers' performance.
• Alerting & Notifications: One of the most important features is to send alerts when facing problems. These warnings can be sent via email, SMS or other messenger tools so teams can quickly be aware of issues.
• Security and Threats (Security & Threats Detection): Monitoring system access attempts, unusual activities, and suspicious traffic helps prevent cyberattacks and identify potential infiltrations.
• Access Control: Managing users' access to the server and recording their activities helps identify and prevent internal threats.

Top VPS Monitoring Tools to Enhance Performance and Stability

We have provided a list of server monitoring tools below. But remember, these tools are not ranked based on superiority over others; you should choose the most suitable tool based on your needs. After identifying these tools, we’ll mention how to choose the best option based on your needs. 

You may also want to know the best VPS providers in 2025. 

1- Cacti

Cacti is a popular open-source network monitoring VPS software. Valuable for IT infrastructure, it focuses on the graphical representation of the network. Cacti is available as a free download, and it is included in the LAMP suite (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP), which offers a standardized software platform for creating graphs for all types of statistical data. Cacti divide data collection and graphical display into discrete instances, making reprocessing and reorganizing data for various visual representations easy. 

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Pros

• Free and open-source.
• Creates customizable graphs.
• Compatible with SNMP and various devices.
• Templates for servers and network devices.
• Supports historical data analysis.
• Real-time network visualization with plugins.
• Highly customizable.

Cons

• Complex for beginners.
• Steep learning curve.
• Requires effort for setup and maintenance.

2- Nagios

Nagios is a powerful network monitoring tool actively developed for many years. Written in C language, it can perform almost all the tasks a system and network administrator could expect from a monitoring application package. Nagio's fairly complex setup can be a problem for beginners, but it is also an advantage, as the tool can be adapted to almost any monitoring task. As with Cacti, a very active community supports Nagios core, so various plugins exist for different hardware and software. Nagios allows you to continuously monitor the status of servers, services, network channels, and everything the IP network layer protocol includes. However, Those familiar with standard Linux/Unix configuration files should not encounter any particular problems. 

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Pros

• Powerful and versatile network monitoring.
• Actively developed and widely supported.
• Fast, intuitive web interface and reliable server.
• Supports extensive plugins for hardware and software.
• Monitors various metrics (CPU, RAM, disk space, network latency, etc.).
• Customizable notifications (email, SMS, instant messaging).
• Logical, color-coded network display.

Cons

• Complex configuration, especially for beginners.
• Command-line setup can be challenging.
• Some features may require significant effort to utilize.

3- Zabbix

Zabbix is a comprehensive network and VPS monitoring tool that combines several web console functions. It can be configured to monitor and collect data from various servers and network equipment. It monitors the services and performance of each object. Zabbix enables monitoring of servers and networks using a wide range of tools, including dedicated monitoring virtualization hypervisors and web application stacks.

Pros

• Open-source and free.
• Real-time monitoring and alerting.
• Highly customizable and extensible.
• Auto-discovery of devices and services.
• Web-based interface with dashboards and visualizations.
• Scalable for small to enterprise-level networks.

Cons

• Complex configuration process.
• The user interface could be more intuitive.
• Scalability may face challenges in massive environments.
• Lacks some advanced features compared to competitors.

4- SolarWinds Server & Application Manager

SolarWinds Server & Application Manager is a reliable monitoring service for virtual servers, cloud technologies and on-premise or hybrid environments. This tool provides server utilization and application performance metrics based on your environment. SolarWinds Server & Application Manager will be an efficient tool for controlling your servers and your entire infrastructure. SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor features include:

Pros

• Comprehensive monitoring of servers, applications, and infrastructure.
• Real-time metrics with intuitive dashboards and visualizations.
• Supports automation and remote remediation via integration with other SolarWinds tools.
• Features like automatic service discovery and dependency mapping.
• Includes prepackaged templates for standard applications and services.
• Scalability for hybrid, on-premise, and cloud environments.

Cons

• High cost compared to other tools.
• Complexity in advanced configurations.
• Resource-intensive, requiring robust infrastructure.
• Limited customization for alerts and reporting filters.

5- Datadog 

Datadog is an efficient tool for monitoring infrastructure, applications, networks, and logs. One of the essential features of Datadog is that it provides a unified view of monitoring metrics related to Log Discovery and Traces. This feature is handy when you want to find and fix server performance problems. Installing Datadog is very simple; you only need to install the metric collector. Once you install the tool, you will see server health and monitoring metrics simultaneously using the available beautiful dashboard. Alerts are also completely standard and can be easily configured and used.

Pros

• Comprehensive monitoring of servers, applications, networks, and logs.
• Real-time visibility into infrastructure health and performance.
• AIOps and machine learning for anomaly detection and insights.
• Customizable dashboards and extensive visualization options.
• Simple installation and intuitive interface.
• Unified view for monitoring metrics, log discovery, and traces.

Cons

• High cost for advanced features.
• The steep learning curve for newcomers.
• Limited log management (e.g., no support for JSON logs).
• Resource-intensive, which may impact server performance.

6- New Relic

This tool gives you a complete overview of your infrastructure. New Relic is a new monitoring tool focusing heavily on container and server monitoring, combining all your monitoring needs into one dashboard. Another thing is that New Relic is a flexible tool that can integrate with and support a variety of systems, including Prometheus, Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCP, MySQL, NGINX, Apache Kafka, Apache Cassandra, and many more. Setting up New Relic monitoring software takes less than 5 minutes, and you can get a complete overview of your system. New Relic is an excellent choice for monitoring your infrastructure if most of your workload is related to Kubernetes and containers.

Pros

• Comprehensive monitoring of servers, applications, and infrastructure.
• Application-centric focus with real-time performance monitoring.
• Easy to use with a simple setup process (under 5 minutes).
• Strong integration with various systems (AWS, Kubernetes, MySQL, etc.).
• Supports mobile and container monitoring.
• Provides trend analysis, capacity planning, and troubleshooting.

Cons

• High cost for advanced features.
• Complexity for beginners to fully utilize.
• Limited data retention for historical analysis.
• Challenges with alert management and integration.

7- Dynatrace

Dynatrace is a server performance monitoring tool that uses Software as a Service (SaaS) technology. Given its ability to leverage server metrics, it’s likely to cover most of your monitoring needs. Setting up Dynatrace isn’t difficult; you can define your metrics in the dashboard in just a few minutes. Then, get information about the CPU, Memory, and Network. One of the cool features of Dynatrace is that it shows network metrics for specific processes. This tool monitors your servers and automatically uses AI to understand your entire application architecture. You can use Dynatrace to monitor server performance and manage your organization’s cloud infrastructure at a minimal cost.

Pros

• Deep application visibility with full-stack monitoring.
• Automatic discovery and mapping of dependencies.
• AI-driven root cause analysis for faster issue resolution.
• Scalable and supports cloud-native environments.
• Offers infrastructure monitoring for servers, VMs, and containers.
• User experience analysis through real-world interaction insights.

Cons

• High cost for full functionality.
• The steep learning curve for new users.
• Complex configuration requiring expertise.
• Dependency on agent deployment for monitoring.

8- ManageEngine OpManager

ManageEngine OpManager is another top server monitoring software. It is considered to be the most cost-effective server performance monitoring tool. ManageEngine OpManager focuses heavily on the network. It is interesting to know that if your organization uses VoIP, this software will allow you to monitor its performance on servers and provide an overview of how to improve it. With this tool, you will get monitoring support for any physical device with a network connection and IP address of servers, switches, routers, firewalls, printers, and storage devices. ManageEngine OpManager continuously monitors your network and provides a comprehensive view of its control. This tool will be a good choice if your organization greatly emphasizes network monitoring.

Pros

• A comprehensive suite of tools for server and network monitoring.
• User-friendly interface for more straightforward navigation.
• Strong integration capabilities with various platforms.
• Cost-effective solution, particularly for network monitoring.
• Provides monitoring support for various devices, including servers, switches, and routers.

Cons

• Complex configurations for advanced use cases.
• Limited customization options in some features.
• Support limitations may require external resources for troubleshooting.
• No cloud-based SaaS version is available.
• Lacks application performance monitoring and network correlation features.

9- AppDynamics

AppDynamics is one of the first platforms to accelerate your digital transformation by providing more insights into server performance and application monitoring. This tool will help you identify server performance issues impacting your business performance. You will encounter a complete set of dashboards and metrics in this tool. AppDynamics supports detailed alerts. If you have a business-oriented company or organization, consider using AppDynamics.

Pros

• Provides in-depth insights into both server performance and application monitoring.
• Strong integration of application and server performance metrics.
• Detailed dashboards and alerting capabilities for proactive issue resolution.
• Well-suited for business-oriented organizations.

Cons

• Lack of sufficient training and documentation for users.
• No self-hosted version is available, limiting deployment flexibility.

10- Sensu Go

Sensu Go is an Observability Pipeline platform that supports server performance metrics. It is a Streams Processing Engine that can integrate data processes with all observable documentation, including metrics, logs, etc. These platforms can collect the required data and deliver it to any tool in a richer way. Sensu Go will help you identify and fix the problems in monitoring the correlations between metrics and logging and tracing.

Monitoring technologies such as Nagios, StatsD, Telegraf, and Prometheus can seamlessly integrate into Sensu Go. One of the essential features of this tool is its support for monitoring code. This allows you to define Workflow monitoring using declarative configuration files shared with team members. If your organization follows GitOps principles and considers everything as code, Sensu Go will be an ideal choice for server monitoring.

Pros

• Supports monitoring as code, ideal for GitOps environments.
• Integrates seamlessly with existing monitoring tools like Nagios, Prometheus, and StatsD.
• Offers compatibility with all cloud service providers.
• Enables flexible data delivery to various tools for deeper insights.

Cons

• Limited documentation and lack of support for community plugins.
• Complex user interface that may be challenging for new users.
• Insufficient data availability for troubleshooting and analysis.

What should you consider when choosing a monitoring tool?

Here are the most critical factors you should consider before choosing a VPS monitoring tool:

• Metric Coverage: This tool should be able to collect and analyze your important metrics. Some of these tools only support a few metrics, leaving you missing out on many of the metrics you need. You should also be able to configure your metrics and customize them to suit your needs.

• Easy to Set Up: DIY tools can be exciting and fun but can be frustrating when things don’t go right. So, look for an easy tool to set up and maintain. It should meet your needs well with pre-configured alerts and dashboards.

• Correlation of Metrics:  Even if server monitoring tools support all the required metrics, it will still be difficult to conclude if there is no correlation between them. This is very noticeable when troubleshooting. 

• Anomaly Detection: Many users think this section is unimportant, but anomaly detection becomes essential when a problem occurs. In such cases, you will need an alert to identify the problem.

• Total Cost of Ownership: If you are considering avoiding complexity and operational costs, prioritize SaaS monitoring software.

Conclusion

In this article, we have introduced some of the best VPS server monitoring tools. Since monitoring server performance is essential in any computer-based network, choosing a suitable tool according to the network needs can help network administrators provide better client services. In general, the choice of monitoring tool depends on the network needs, the type of server, the operating system used, and the user level. The best VPS monitoring tool should fully monitor the server's real-time performance factors and have appropriate warning tools in case of problems.